JP’s weBLOG

I realized that these past few months most of the TV shows I watch are
reality shows. I think it’s mainly because the non-reality shows that I
like/want to watch (CSI, Alias, 24, Darna
(LOL!), etc) are aired at a time that I am at/on my way home to work (I
work nights). Every Sunday (my day off the job), I usually watch
several movies. It doesn’t help that I am also a moderator in a reality
show-based forum.

I
am most surprised at finding myself interested in a reality show that
is not even aired here in the Philippines. I’m talking about  Big Brother 6.
That show has got to be the most strategy-filled reality show I have
ever known, way more cut throat than Survivor. From what I read in
message boards, it is one of the most interesting BB seasons that CBS
produced. Some even say the season might be "scripted" and not really
"real" (which is what reality shows are all about).

Someone told
me that our version of BB, Pinoy Big Brother, is patterned after their
first season of BB (which, according to her, sucked). Hopefully, our
own version of BB won’t disappoint us. You can read the rules of Pinoy
Big Brother in this site.

I
got hooked on BB6 because of a BB6 prediction game I joined. (Thanks
Sheree!) Each week, we have to predict (of course) several things about
Big Brother 6, like who will be evicted (voted off, eliminated, etc)
and who will be nominated.

How do I follow a show that I don’t
even get to watch? By reading recaps, of course! A recap, for those who
don’t know, is a sort-of detailed summary of an episode. Reality News Online (RNO) provide recaps of the show’s episodes and live feeds. One of the
reasons Big Brother is popular is because people outside the BB house
can watch what is happening inside. CBS offers Live Feeds of the
cameras within the house itself, so you can watch everything that
happens in there 24/7 (for a price). For those of us who don’t have the
live feeds, we can read the recaps from RNO.

I promised myself that I have to download the episodes (from mIRC) sometime so that I can watch them.

September is coming, and two of my favorite reality shows will be back! I’m talking about The Amazing Race and Survivor!

The latest installment of the most popular reality show in the U.S. is set in the exotic ruins of the Mayan Empire. Survivor: Guatemala presents 16 new castaways that will try to outwit, outplay, and outlast
each other for 39 days to win the $1 million prize. Expect some rather
good twists in the first episode. Rumor has it that 2 former castaways
will be back! Their role in the game is still sketchy though.

I
am really looking forward to Survivor: Guatemala. I love the new theme,
and I hope they incorporate it nicely in the challenges. I am rooting
for Morgan and Brian! (Brian and I has the same birthday. I just hope
he’s not too cocky, which I’m afraid he is.)

The 8th season of the 2-time Emmy award-winning reality (and my favorite)  show The Amazing Race is back with a new twist. Instead of the usual teams of 2, they now
have 10 teams of 4. This season is called The Amazing Race: Family
Edition. Each team is comprised of 4 people in a family, but it’s not
just father-mother-child-child. There are in-laws, siblings, and even a
widowed mother and her 3 kids.

Some say that this will not turn
out good, but I am positive that this new twist will provide great
entertainment. I am rooting for the Gaghans and the Blacks! Even though
their kids are the youngest in the Race, I believe that they will
surprise the other teams by doing well. At least, that’s what I hope.

Studio
23 has been airing Survivor and The Amazing Race for a few years now.
I’m thinking they’ll keep the shows in their usual schedule. Survivor
will be Fridays at 1:00 (or 2:00) pm while The Amazing Race will be
Wednesdays at 9:00 am. Survivor replays are weekends (Sunday night, I
think), but Amazing Race replays of the past 2 seasons (season 6 and 7)
were Wednesday nights. Why can’t they just air the replay of these 2
shows back-to-back on a Sunday night? That would be awesome.

I hope you can check out these reality shows!

JP

Yes! I finished reading the book last Monday, early morning. I think it was awesome! We finally got the answers to some of the questions that have been bugging us (or at least me), like why the DADA position is jinxed, Voldemort’s background, and of course, who is the half-blood prince. It’s a bit shorter than Goblet of Fire, and some scenes felt "rushed". Others say the characters weren’t their usual selves on some parts of the books, and I agree.

Overall, I think this is better than OotP in terms of "content". But my favorite HP book is still Prisoner of Azkaban.

****

I’m currently reading Travels by Michael Crichton.

Happy 4th of July to my American friends!

I
made a new avatar for the message boards that I frequent. It’s an
elvish translation of my nickname ‘jaypee’. It’s the one on the left…

I
watched 2 movies yesterday. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and
Chicago. I found both movies entertaining.Sky Captain’s special effects
were not that good, but it’s an adventure movie, and Angelina Jolie was
there, so of course it’s great! LOL. Chicago was also a good movie, but
I still like Moulin Rouge better.

I’m currently reading Absolute Power by David Baldacci. An online friend suggested the book to me, and so far the book is good.

Yesterday
I’ve been up for about 23 hours (woke up 7 pm Saturday night, worked
from 10 pm to 6 am, slept 6 pm Sunday). I’ve been practicing on burning
my own DVD. I ran into several problems, wasted a few DVDs, and finally
successfully burned Back to the Future (which my brother downloaded
using eMule). But when they tried to watch it, it stopped about 27
minutes into the movie. Ugh. I don’t even know what’s causing all the
trouble!!! >:( I’d probably burn the movie in VCD format. Hopefully
it’ll work then.

12 days until the next Harry Potter book! I can’t wait!

Disclaimer: The following contains spoilers to the upcoming season of The Amazing Race.

Do you know that the next Amazing Race (TAR) (Season has a twist? Instead of the usual teams of 2, the show will feature teams of 4. Fans call it Family TAR. Well, someone I know from a message board that I frequent to said that his family (his son, the son’s wife and 2 teen kids) is racing in the coming TAR season! He claims the race started in Disneyland, Orlando last June 7. Let’s see if this spoiler is true.

I can’t wait for TAR8!!!

Let’s see… I’ve just seen the latest Star Wars film, and it totally rocks! Best Star Wars movie, IMO, but that’s just because I barely remember Episodes 4, 5, and 6, and Episodes 1 and 2 are really not that good.

2 new books in my to-read pile: Absolute Power by David Baldacci and Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (I think). Currently reading Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Alliance by Larry Millet. Its main character is Shadwell Rafferty, but SH and Dr Watson are there to help Rafferty in his investigations.

I am still in night shift. At least I have a job! It’s very hard to be jobless these days.

Our broadband Internet at home just got fixed the other day. It’s been broken since Saturday. Come on, we’re paying big bucks for it, the best they can do is to give us what we paid for!

I’m playing too many reality online games. 3 Survivor, 2 Amazing Race, and Games Frenzy 2, a mixture of web games and fiction writing (lol). There’s only 2 clues left in one of the Amazing Race games I’m playing. I’m in the Final 3. I should also say the race is in its second season. I won the first season. Yay!

I think that’s it for now. Take care, all of you!

JP

PS: This didn’t turn out to be a little update, after all. Haha!

I’m just trying this out. Let’s see if I can keep this up.